PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE

The Proust Questionnaire: T Bone Burnett

The music producer, who has worked with Elton John and Elvis Costello—and is about to premiere his latest collaboration with the Coen brothers, Inside Llewyn Davis—says there’s no one he hates more than Walt Disney.

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Perfection is a second-rate idea. I would guess, however, that perfected happiness would be joy, the most intricate and mercurial of all sensations. The moment one recognizes joy, it flees. I’m not sure where Proust is going with this line of questioning, and I don’t want to be evasive, so I will say my idea of perfect happiness is the end of economics; we grow like flowers and fly like birds; the lion lays down with the lamb—a ridiculous idea.

Which living person do you most despise? Walt Disney.

What is your greatest regret? I regret all the books I haven’t read, the music I haven’t heard, the films I haven’t seen, the places I haven’t been, the people I haven’t loved or loved as I should.

When and where were you happiest? My happiest moment was being in the room when my daughter was born, and seeing her draw her first breath and turn from what looked like gray clay into the deepest, most vibrant, most psychedelic crimson. It was an unforgettable, unimaginable explosion of energy and potential—of promise and pure love.

Which talent would you most like to have? To paint. Like Paul Cézanne. That kind of painting.

What is your current state of mind? Semi-coherent. Set on neuro-feedback. Perfectly happy.

What do you consider your greatest achievement? The things I have been lucky enough or inspired enough to do I don’t think of as achievements. You can’t take credit for inspiration. I don’t know if any of the things I care about can be achieved.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be? Quiet.

What is your most treasured possession? A painting by Larry Poons called Calling You.

What is your favorite occupation? Archaeologist. They are the ones who actually get to the bottom of things, so to speak.

What do you most value in your friends? Their willingness to arrange a small loan.

Where would you like to live? There is an old monastery on a hill overlooking Florence, Italy. Or Hearst Castle. Either one of those.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Hope. Sometimes, one needs simply to do the thing and not hope it happens.

What is your most marked characteristic? The ability to keep on keeping on, I suppose.

What is it that you most dislike? Celebrity. It is hard not to think of those who chase celebrity and catch it, realizing they actually are celebrities and being perfectly happy about it.

How would you like to die? I would like to die in good health, at an old age, in a house on a mountain that looks out over the ocean, dreaming about everyone and everything I have had the impossible good fortune to have loved. Maybe Ralph Stanley is singing “Angel Band.”

What is your motto? “Good deals we do right away; bad deals take a little time.”